MUTINY ON THE RISING SUN A Tragic Tale of Slavery, Smuggling, and Chocolate

Joe Barrett uses a gritty voice to narrate this tale of the June 1, 1743, mutiny on the colonial merchant ship RISING SUN. The ship was involved in the sometimes illegal trade among the Dutch colony of Suriname (off the northeast coast of South America), Barbados, Boston, and Western Europe. Subtitled "A Tragic Tale of Slavery, Smuggling, and Chocolate," the audiobook provides listeners with a complex history of eighteenth-century trading and the origins of American capitalism. Barrett's performance is unemotional and often grating as he recites details of the ruthless mutiny during which the captain is murdered. Barrett barely pauses to breathe as he recounts minute details of the ship owners' lives, the tangled web of the slave trade, illicit commerce, and their repercussions. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2022]